9% of students in Newton Public Schools are economically disadvantaged. In some of our grade schools, it’s 20%. Every year, NPS runs about $10,000 in school lunch debt.

Many families slip through the cracks and fall behind due to a variety of things such as:
· They hesitate to apply for SNAP food assistance
· They are unaware they qualify
· The paperwork is daunting
· They send some lunches, but must pay for milk or snacks

Our district is compassionate, ensuring all our children get the same lunch and our community can help raising funds to offset this debt. The target for this drive, organized by a Newton parent,  is $5,000 by the last day of school.

If you’re food insecure – or know someone who is, there are links and information on Project Bread, The Centre Street Food Pantry and Newton Food Pantry in this GoFundMe campaign: https://www.gofundme.com/npslunchdebt